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Rose goes into battle armed only with charm
Simon English9 Jul 2008
When a bout of suave British stiff-upper-lip is called for, Sir Stuart Rose is just the ticket.
It's been open season on the Marks & Spencer boss for weeks now, as first Jeremy Paxman, then the Press and the City turned against the man they were so recently praising as the saviour of a beloved institution. Today small investors had their turn as the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank hosted the company's annual meeting.
The format for AGMs is standard: nothing happens. Today was different.
So, used to being the heroic saviour of M&S, Rose is now fighting for his corporate reputation in what is one of the most high-profile jobs in British business.
But did he arrive combative? Armed with killer facts and Powerpoint to make his case to the angry mob?
No. Instead, he relied on his silversmooth tongue.
For Rose is blessed with a manner and way with words that make him easily the coolest man in retail.
He deals with truculent small shareholdersas if it was the job for which he was put on this earth.
Case in point: one cross shareholder complained that she couldn't find clothes in M&S that fitted her.
Rose's response: "I am so very sorry to hear that. Kate Bostock (his director of clothing, no less), will personally take you shopping. If she cannot make the appointment then I will."
All delivered with sincerity and a smile. Cue rapturous applause.
Rose's difficulty is that people who love M&S expect it to be consistently perfect. Before he took to the stage I saw him deal with another woman complaining about the clothes with similar sincerity.
He pressed his card into her hand and said: "Please, phone me and we will sort this out."
Gone are the days when the serried ranks of the M&S board was left speechless, mouths gaping, at that large woman who took her top off on stage to reveal her ill-fitting M&S bra. Rose would have dealt with it with an instant, funny and flattering line and left her beaming back in her seat, rather than complaining to the tabloids as she did.
By agreeing to move to chairman while the rest of the board sorts out who might be good enough to become chief executive, Rose must have known he was letting himself in for a roasting.
With sales falling and food mispriced for a recession, the man with most of the power was sure to take all of the blame. Rose, supported to his left by new board members Martha Lane Fox and Kate Bostock, was stoic. He insists that despite negative publicity over the food business the company had made significant strides.
"That does not mean there are not issues with this company," he said.
Defending his promotion to chairman he insisted it was the right move. He said: "This institution is bigger than any individual. That certainly includes me. When my job is done I will go."
If Rose has lately been pondering chucking it all in to spend more time with his nightclubs (Annabel's is his favourite) he didn't let it show.
And in the end it was clear that the small shareholders love Rose, no question, no matter how critical, they first began with praise for the chairman and expressions of love for the company.
